Improvement in middlings-separators



L. GATHMANNQ Middlings-Separator. No 201,235.

Patented March 12, I878.

1 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I II N PETERS. PMOi'O-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D O,

UNITED STATES PATENT, ()FFICE.

LOUIS GATHMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MIDDLINGS-SEPARATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,235, dated March 12,1878; application filed October 25,1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs GATHMANN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Middlings-Puriflers; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the figure represents a vertical longitudinal central section of a middlings-purifler embodying my invention.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction and operation of that class of machines used in purifying mlddlings; and my invention consists in the construction and arrangement, with respect to the blast-induc' through the fan-case.

D represents the fans, which are mounted upon the shaft 0 within the fan-case, and are so arranged as to freely revolve therein.

E represents the shoe, which is suspended within the front end of the main case A by means of a series of springs, a, one of which is attached to each corner of the shoe, and to the case or frame, so as to allow the shoe to freely oscillate longitudinally.

F represents a connecting-rod, which is attached at one end to the sides of the shoe, and are eccentrically connected at the opposite end to the fan-shaft O, by which means an oscillating movement is imparted to the shoe by the rotation of the said shaft.

The fan-case is provided at each end with a central inlet-opening, d, which communicates with the interior of the case, and through which openings the air is drawn through the shoe into the fan-case by the rotation of the fans, and is also provided upon one side with an exit-opening, at, through which the airescapes.

G is the hopper through which the material to be treated is fed into the machine.

' G is a distributing-screen" located within the front end of the shoe, under the hopper G, and extending backward a distance nearly equal to one-third the length of the shoe.

H is a distributing-apron, which is located within the shoe, a slight distance below the distributing-screen G, and is arranged to incline downward toward the front end of the machine, and is provided with an upward-projecting rib, b, extending transversely across the same. This rib is so arranged as to retain and prevent the good middlings from being carried off the apron toward the rear of the machine by the air-current, and at the same time allow the lighter particles, which will float in the air-current, to be carried over it.

J is a separating-screen, which is arranged within the shoe a'short distance below the distributing-apron H, and so as to incline downward toward the rear end of the machine, and is of the proper length to extend to a point near the rear end of the shoe. This screen is covered with two different grades of boltingcloth, 0 and c, the part 0 being coarser than the part c, as shown in the drawing.

K is a carrier-board, which is arranged within the shoe, below the screenJ, and so as to in- 'cline downward toward the front of the ma chine, and is of the proper length to extend backward, so that its rear edge will be nearly in the same vertical plane withthe front edge of the bolting-surface c of the said screen, and is provided at its rear edge with an upward projecting flange, f, arranged in the same vertical plane with a depending rib or flange, f, under the screen. These flanges are so ar ranged as to leave an opening, 6, between them, through which a current of air can freely pass, and so as to cross the path of the middlings falling through the meshes of the bolting-surface c; and the flange f is provided with a gate or valve, e, arranged to admit of being raised lowered to open or close the opening 0, so as to regulate the amount of the air-current passing through the same.

K is a carrierscreen, which is arranged within the shoe, a slight distance below the carrier-board K, andso as to'be in a plane parallel with the same, and is provided at ,its rear edge with an end board, g, which extends upward so that its upper edge will be in the same plane with the upper surface of the screen J. This end board is so arranged as to leave an opening, g between its inner surface and the rear end of the screen J, through which the air-current from the opening a of the carrier-board K passes, and through which the coarser middlings that pass off the end of the screen J fall.

, J is the final separating-screen, which is arranged within the lower portion of the shoe,

under the carrier-screen K, and so as to incline downward toward the rear end of the machine,,and is covered with two different grades of bolting-cloth, h and h, the boltingsurface h being coarser than the bolting-surface h, as shown in the drawing.

M is the bottom board of the shoe, which is so arranged as to incline downward toward the front of the machine. m is a transverse rib or flange, which is permanently attached to the bottom board M, and in the same vertical plane with the front edge of the boltingsurface h of the screen J. 'm isa depending rib or cross-bar, which is arranged under the lower surface of the screen J over the rib m, and is so arranged as to leave an opening, at, between its lower surface and the said rib, through which a current of air from tlie front end of the shoe can freely pass. a is a gate or valve, which is attached to the cross-bar m,

and is so arranged as to admit of being opened or closed, to increase or diminish the size of the opening 02, so as to regulate the amount and force of the air-current passing through the same.

N is an end board attached to the rear edge I of the bottom board M of the shoe, and so as to close the space between the said bottom board and the rear edge of the screen J, and so as to cause the air-current passing through the opening n to ascend through the meshes of the bolting-surface h of the said screen. P is a discharging-hopper, into which the coarse offal falls as it passes off the end of the screen J; and P is a like hopper, into which the lighteroffal falls as it is drawn off the said screen by the air-current.

The shoe is provided, on its outer side and near its front end, with a conducting-spout,

S, which communicates at its upper end with v the interior of the shoe immediately above the carrier-board K, through an opening, p, and at its lower end immediately above the bottom board M through an opening, p. The main case is provided at the front end of the machine with openings "r s t, extending trans versely across the machine, and through which the air passesinto the shoe. The said openings are so arranged that the air current passing through the opening T will pass over the Y apron H, and across the path of the middlings falling from and through the distributingscreen G; and the air-current passing through the opening .9 passes partly upward through the bolting-surface c of the screen J, and partly through the opening a, and thence upward through thebolting-surfacec of the said screen; and the air-current passing through the opening it passes partly upward through the bolting-surface h of the screen J, and across the path of the middlings falling through the coarser screen K, and partly through the opening 01; thence upward through the bolting-surface h of the said screen J. R, R, and T are valves, which are so arranged as to admit of being adjusted to partly close the respective openings 1', s, and t, as may be requiredto regulate the amount and force of the air-currents passing through said openings.

The operation of my said middlings-purifier is as follows: moving parts of the machine by means of any suitable motor, (not shown,) the draft produced by the rotary motion of the fans causes a current of air to pass through the re spective openings 1", s, and t, and through the screens, as previously described. The unpurified middlings are then fed into the hopper G, and from thence fall upon the distributingscreen G, and are spread over the same, and so that the finer middlings fall through the meshes of the said screen, and across the air current, passing through the opening r, and rest upon the apron H, while the coarser middlings and oifal pass oif the said screen, and fall across the said air-current and upon the apron, thereby bringing all the particles of the middlings and offal in direct contact with the air-current passing through the said opening, by which means the lighter impurities are carried off, as indicated by arrows 1.

The middlings then fall from the apron H to and upon the head of the screen J, and are carried downward toward the rear end of the shoe, the finer middlings falling through the meshes of the bolting-surface c and against the air current from the opening 8, which passes upward through the screen, as indi cated by arrows 2, and thereby preventing the impurities from passing through the screen with the middlings.

The middlings which pass through the bolting-surface a fall upon the carrier-board K in a purified state, and are discharged into the spouts S through the openings 9, and fall upon the bottom board M of the shoe, from whence they may be drawn off through an opening, '5, in the said bottom board.

The coarser middlings and offal upon the screen J pass off the same, the next finest mid dlings falling through the meshes of the bolt ing-surfacec across the air-current from the opening e, and fall to and upon the carrierscreen K, while the coarser middlings and offal fall from the end of the screen J, through Motion being imparted to thethe opening g, against the said air-current to and upon the carrier-screen. The air-current from the openings e, passing upward through the bolting-surface c and opening 9, as indicated by the arrows 3, carries 0E the light impurities which may be in the middlings falling upon the carrier-screen.

The middlings upon the carrier-screen pass down the same toward the front of the machine, the finer particles falling through the meshes thereof to and upon the screen J, While the coarser particles and offal pass over the end and fall upon the head of the said screen J. The middlings and ofial upon the said screen J then pass down the same toward the rear end' of the machine, the finer middlings fallin g through the bolting-surface h against the air-current passing upward through the same from the opening 25, as indicated by arrow 4, which air-current carries 011' the remaining light impurities and the middlings fall in a purified state upon the bottom board M, from whence they may be drawn ofl through the opening 2'.

The middlings which are too coarse to pass through the bolting-surface h and the offal pass over the bolting-surface h, the middling-s falling through the same against the air-current passing upward from the opening a, as indicated by arrow 5, and fall upon the bottom board M, from whence they may be drawn off through the opening 41. The air-current from the opening n prevents the offal from passing through the bolting-surface h, and causes it to pass off the end of the screen, so that the lighter particles will fall into the hopper P, and the heavier particles into the hopper 1?.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a middlings-purifier, the combination, with a fan to produce an air-current and a seriesof valves to regulate said air-current, of the screen J, covered with bolting-cloth c and c, of different degrees of fineness, the opening e under said screen, and the opening g at the discharging end of said screen, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a middlings-purifier, the combination, with a fan to produce an air-current and a series of valves to regulate said air-current, of the bottom board M, the screen J, covered with bolting-cloth h and h, of different degrees of fineness, and the opening at between the said screen and the bottom board, substantially as and for the purpose specified. r

LOUIS GATHMANN.

Witnesses:

N. O. GRHJLEY, N. H. SHERBURNE. 

